👩💻 Facebook Interview | E5 Level | Bay Area | Accept
Summary
I successfully interviewed for an E5 position at Facebook in the Bay Area after a referral from a friend. The process involved a recruiter screen, a technical phone screen with two coding problems, and a virtual onsite covering two coding rounds, a system design challenge, and a behavioral round, ultimately leading to an offer.
Full Experience
I was referred by a friend at Facebook, which initiated my interview process for an E5 level position in the Bay Area.
Recruiter Phone Screen
The recruiter asked me about the details of my current job, my reasons for leaving, the status of any other ongoing interview processes or offers, and general questions like my visa status. We also discussed the target level for my interviews.
Technical Phone Screen
This 45-minute round focused purely on coding. After brief introductions, we dove straight into two questions. I spent about 15 minutes on the first question and 25 minutes on the second.
The questions were:
Virtual Onsite
All rounds during the virtual onsite were 45 minutes long.
Coding Round 1
I was given two coding problems in this round:
Coding Round 2
This round also had two coding questions:
System Design Round
I was tasked with designing the Facebook Status Search system. I utilized an iPad to explain my thought process and draw the architectural diagrams. A related discussion can be found here.
Behavior Round
This round covered various behavioral questions including discussions about my recent projects, reasons for leaving my current company, conflict resolution strategies, and experiences with difficult colleagues. Additionally, there was one coding question that was similar to First Bad Version.
My years of experience are 11. My compensation before the interview was $310K, and after receiving the offer, it increased to $381K plus a $50K sign-on bonus.
I wish everyone the best of luck with their upcoming interviews!
Interview Questions (8)
Lowest Common Ancestor of a Binary Tree
During the technical phone screen, I was asked to find the Lowest Common Ancestor of a Binary Tree. I spent around 15 minutes on this question.
Integer to English Words
In the technical phone screen, I was also asked to convert an integer to its English words representation. I spent about 25 minutes on this question.
Product of Array Except Self
In the first coding round of the virtual onsite, I was given the problem 'Product of Array Except Self'.
Clone Graph
Subarray Sum Equals K
During the second coding round, one of the problems presented was 'Subarray Sum Equals K'.
Minimum Remove to Make Valid Parentheses
I was also asked 'Minimum Remove to Make Valid Parentheses' in the second coding round.
Design Facebook Status Search
I was tasked with designing the Facebook Status Search system in the system design round. I used an iPad to explain and draw the architecture diagram.
First Bad Version (or similar)
During the behavior round, I also encountered a coding question which was similar to 'First Bad Version'.